Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
I chuckle. “Oh, I know you have. And I’m sure you have a pros and cons list, highlighted and color coded. You know that whatever you want to do, I support you one hundred percent. You need to do what makes you happy.”
That seems to satisfy her because her face softens, and she smiles at me. “Being a nurse makes me happy, but I feel like I need a change.”
I nod. “I get it. I understand.”
She keeps looking at me, and because I’m drawn to her, I’m practically inches from her face. I lean back, grab my empty plate, and go over to the sink. “You done?”
She grabs her piece of toast. “Yep.”
I take her plate and start to load the dishwasher.
“How come you haven’t been dating anyone?”
I heard the question, but I act like I didn’t. I never lie to Chrissy, and that’s a hard question to answer without telling her the truth. I mean, what am I supposed to say? Because I love you and I don’t want to date any woman but you? I can’t say that to her.
“Gabe, you ignoring me? How come you haven’t been dating anyone?”
“I date.”
She laughs as she comes around the island and stops next to me. “Right. Well, you haven’t dated anyone in three years.” She grabs the pan off the stove and stops next to me. “I mean, unless you’re dating and you just haven’t told me about it.”
I resist rolling my eyes. Hell, she knows everything about me. She probably knows me better than I know myself. “No, I haven’t been dating and not telling you.”
She puts the pan in the dishwasher, grabs our juice glasses, and hands me mine. “Want to finish that?”
I chug the orange juice and then put the glass in the dishwasher.
She’s wiping down the counter, and I’m hopeful that we’re done talking about my lack of dating, but I should have known that Chrissy wouldn’t just let it go. “So why aren’t you dating?”
I shrug. “You want the truth?” Or half the truth anyway, because I can’t tell her everything.
She nods her head, and I lean against the counter. “None of the women I’ve dated are okay with our relationship.”
She gasps and pokes her thumb against her chest. “Me? Our relationship?”
“Yes, our relationship.”
She puts a hand on her shapely hip. “But why? I don’t understand. Your girlfriends have a problem with me?”
I stand up and put my arms across my chest. “First of all, they weren’t my girlfriends. Second of all, I tell any woman that I’ve dated that you come first. Some of them say it’s okay, but as soon as they indicate they’re not okay with it—and their true colors always come out—well, I break it off.”
She’s still pointing at herself. “Because of me?”
I just look at her. How can she not have a clue how I feel about her?
She stomps her foot. “Well, that’s not right. I don’t want to stand in your way of finding…” She starts choking and then clears her throat. “A girlfriend. I want you to be happy, Gabe. I can’t believe you’ve never told me this before. Oh my God, this is all my fault.” She starts pacing the kitchen and stops. “Alison. You were dating Alison, and I called you when Otis died and you came and spent the weekend with me.”
“Honey, your dog died. Of course I was going to stay with you.”
She gasps and puts her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I was the reason you broke up with her?”
I hold my hands up when I see her getting visibly upset. “None of this is your fault, Chrissy. I let them know upfront, and if they can’t handle it, that’s on them.”
“Oh my God, I’m so stupid. That was three years ago… that was the last girl you dated… and it’s all because of me.”
“Stop. Trust me, it’s no big deal.” I mean it’s really not. But I can’t tell her why I don’t care.
She walks toward me. “What are you doing Friday night?”
“Nothing. Why? What’s up?”
“We’re going on a date… a double date.”
For just a second, I let myself get excited until I fully process what she just said. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“A double date. Bethany has been begging me to fix you up with her. Can you find me a date?”
I shake my head and walk to the door to start sliding on my shoes. “No.”
There’s hurt in her voice. “You can’t find me a date?”
I squat down and tie my boots on. “What? Yes, of course, I can find you a date, but we’re not going on a double date. That’s ridiculous. Forget it.”
She walks over to me, and I rise to my feet. She grabs both my hands and holds them in hers. She knows I never want to tell her no, and with her touching me, it’s going to be impossible.